Five Disneyland employees infected with measles in California

Five employees of Disneyland have been infected with measles in an outbreak traced to the California amusement park, although three of them have recovered from the viral disease and are back on the job, company officials said on Wednesday.

Orange County health officials told the Disneyland resort on Tuesday that two employees had tested positive and had been placed on medical leave, the fifth case since last Thursday, a Disney spokeswoman said.

“Cast members who may have come in contact with those who were positive are being tested for the virus,” Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pamela Hymel said in a statement.

California health officials earlier this month linked the worst outbreak of measles in more than a decade to Disneyland, saying anyone who visited the amusement park in Anaheim between Dec. 15 and 20 may have been exposed.

More than 50 people have become infected in California as well as other U.S. states and Mexico, health officials said.

Disneyland began offering vaccinations and medical screenings after it learned of the outbreak on Jan. 7, a spokeswoman said. Last Thursday, it learned one employee tested positive. Three have been treated and are back at work.

On Tuesday, Huntington Beach High School, about 15 miles (24 km) from Disneyland, told students who had not been vaccinated for measles to stay home for two weeks after learning one of their classmates was infected.

The California Department of Public Health said there have been 59 confirmed measles cases among California residents so far in 2015. Of those, 42 cases have been linked to exposure in December at Disneyland.

This includes the five employees, four of whom worked there and one who is believed to have been infected as a guest. Of the cases outside California linked to the Disneyland outbreak, there has been one in Mexico, three in Utah, two in Washington state, and one each in Oregon and Colorado.

Measles typically begins with fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed by the appearance of a red rash that typically starts on the face and spreads downward. The sometimes deadly viral disease can spread very swiftly among unvaccinated children.

There is no specific treatment and most people recover within a few weeks. But in poor and malnourished children and people with reduced immunity, measles can cause serious complications including blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhea, ear infection and pneumonia.

Disney’s ‘Frozen’ led a rare jump in toy sales last year

U.S. retail sales of toys climbed 4% to $18.08 billion in 2014, bolstered by strong demand for “Frozen” gear, building sets and youth electronics.

Toy sales don’t generally budge much in the U.S., a mature market for an industry that has faced decades of challenges from the technology sector — first from hardware video game systems in the 1980s, and more recently from mobile devices. But in recent years the sector has done a fairly good job focusing on basics, mostly moving away from failed efforts to add smartphones and tablets to simple toys (a plastic toy gun with room for a smartphone, for example).

The latest data from research firm NPD Group suggest that the industry should stick to what it knows best.

Building set sales, a strong category in recent years, leapt 13% in 2014. Action figures, games and puzzles were both up 9%. And NPD said that while the holiday season started off looking soft, demand picked up in the final days before Christmas.

NPD said Walt Disney’s DIS “Frozen” was a star performer. The firm estimates “Frozen” generated $531 million in toy sales in the U.S. alone last year, an impressive feat but not entirely surprising as Fortunehas reported that the property joins a short list that includes Tickle Me Elmo and Furby as one of the toy industry’s greatest holiday hits of all time.

There is one problematic area, however: the infant/preschool toy market. Sales of items for that market slipped 5% last year. Both Hasbro HAS and Mattel MAT have reported weaker sales for their preschool divisions, likely due to lower birth rates in the U.S.

Still, the NPD report is generally a positive indicator for Mattel and Hasbro, both of which expected to report their full 2014 results in the next few weeks. It also bodes well for privately held Lego, which dominates the building set space.

Video games push interactivity at theme parks

These days, guests to theme parks around the country don’t want to take a vacation from video games. With the proliferation of smartphones and casual gaming, over 59% of Americans now play some type of games. At the same time, more theme park creatives who are building the next generation of attractions are either from the game development world or have grown up with a game controller in their hand. This shift is having a profound impact on the interactive experiences that have recently opened at the largest theme parks or will be coming soon.

“What’s great about gaming today is that everyone plays,” said Jonathan Ackley, project producer and creative director, Walt Disney Imagineering DIS. “It used to be nerds like me, sitting at my desk in the dark. I’m happy, because nerds are finally somewhat cool, if not really cool.”

Ackley’s not just any old nerd. Older gamers may be familiar with Ackley’s early work, if not his name. He started off as a programmer at LucasArts on PC adventure games such as Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max Hit the Road, and Full Throttle before producing and designing The Curse of Monkey Island back in 1997. Now he’s created several real-life RPGs (role-playing games) in EPCOT and the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla.

Disney Phineas & Ferb: Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure lets guests partner with characters from the hit animated TV series via a clamshell video phone and interact with physical elements hidden in plain sight within the different county pavilions at EPCOT to take down Dr. Doofenshmirtz. Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom takes things a step further by introducing interactive collectible battle cards with the ability to cast spells via motion sensor technology to the experience, which features an original interactive animated story. Ackley was influenced by collectible card games and video games like Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon.

“We have the concept of character leveling, which is very much a role-playing game concept,” explained Ackley. “The longer you play, the more powerful you become.”

Both of these experiences were created before Walt Disney Parks & Resorts converted all of its Orlando theme parks, stores, restaurants and hotels with RFID technology that allows a single MagicBand (powered by a passive HFRFID chip) to interact with attractions in new ways. These wrist bands store items like a guest’s hotel key, credit card info and FastPass access to allow for a more seamless experience inside of the parks. Moving forward, they will open up new ways for Walt Disney Imagineers to connect with guests as well as their smartphones.

“We’ve already experimented with the ability to let our guests opt into activities like Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom and take on even deeper story roles for immersive experiences,” said Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. “This is Gen 1 of MagicBand technology and we’re just at the beginning of how to take advantage of this opportunity with our Imagineering teams. Some of the things we’re installing down the road will incorporate this technology, and it’s already an integral part of our design process for our guests to connect the virtual and physical worlds we’re creating.”

Staggs said the ability for gamers to use the MagicBand to unlock exclusive content in the Disney Infinity video games is just scratching the surface of what will be done in the near future. Even outside of MagicBand technology, video games are infiltrating attractions like the Magic Kingdom’s recently opened Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at the center of Fantasyland. Ackley worked with executive producer Jon Georges and other creatives to build a Bejeweled-style Match 3 game into the queue for the hybrid family coaster and dark ride. Touch-screen HD monitors were installed in the 15-foot long wooden troughs so guests can partake in multiplayer gaming as they wait in line.

“We know that guests are big fans of video games, so we’re always looking at ways to bring that level of interactivity into our parks,” said Georges. “While we are not in the video game business, we know that guests now bring a level of expectation about how to interact with our characters and stories.”

Across the country in Anaheim, Calif., Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development has taken advantage of the fact that the majority of guests now carry smartphones with them into the Disneyland Resort. Former Ultima 9 video game developer Seth Mendelsohn spearheaded the team that created the new Mickey’s Fun Wheel Challenge at Disney California Adventure. The mobile game is free to play and doesn’t require a download because of in-park Wi-Fi. Mendolsohn said the head-up experience was designed to give guests something to do while waiting for the World of Color light show each evening. The game uses the 160-foot-tall Ferris wheel as a Simon Says device and the smartphone as the touchpad. The person with the highest score after three rounds gets to control the colors on the Ferris wheel.

“There’s a lot of learning that’s happened from games over the years,” said Mendelsohn. “Because everyone has been playing Angry Birds or Solitaire, people understand how to play games on their devices. It’s a natural transition to be able to come to the park and to use those skills and connect them up to physical attractions.”

Long before Walt Disney built Disneyland, Dutch toy maker Ole Kirk Kristiansen was making LEGO bricks in the 1940s. There are currently six LEGOLAND theme parks around the globe. Many kids (of all ages) have grown up playing with the colorful bricks as well as the bestselling video games from WB Games and developer TT Games, including the new LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. Both the California and Florida LEGOLAND theme parks have incorporated the long lineage of LEGO video games into their Imagination Zone and WB Games Zone, respectively. In addition to being able to build real structures with LEGOs and robots with LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3, video games on Xbox MSFT and other devices are playable. The parks also work with educators to use games, robotics and remote controlled cars to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) topics to kids.

Taking interactivity to an actual ride, Knights’ Tournament allows guests to program their robotic arm-controlled ride with a fixed level of excitement that’s similar to a difficulty level in a video game. The giant robot arm then performs 360-degree spins, flips and other maneuvers to soar riders through the air. Legoland president and general manager John Jakobsen said LEGO’s values are all about letting the individual decide and influence his or her own experience.

“You can determine what you want to do,” said Jakobsen. “You’re not just being put into something and passively entertained. You have to make an active decision.”

Universal is blending new technology with big budget movies at its theme parks. Eric Hunt, creative producer on Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts at Universal Orlando Resort, said his team is influenced by more than just the movies that inspire the attractions.

“I’ve played the Electronic Arts EAHarry Potter video games and have seen how accurate they were in the references that were provided to them,” said Hunt. “Certainly there is a difference because we have to be more true to the films because guests are here on a daily basis looking at everything in its living state versus digital interpretations in 3D.”

At the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley, Universal Creative has used 4K 3D technology for the Gringotts ride to introduce a new parallel story featuring a cast of actors from the blockbuster movie franchise.

“The brighter projector technology with the 4K and the better 3D technology with the improved optics provide really sharp imagery with no ghosting effect,” said Thierry Croup, senior vice president for Universal Creative. “It gives you much more depth and we have a much bigger screen that allows us to do edge blending, which is a special technology that allows us to use almost 360 screens that immerse you into the imagery.” Characters come to life not only on the ride, but in the queue as life-sized animatronic goblins work throughout the bank. Just next door at Gringotts Money Exhange, a goblin will answer any question that muggle guests ask.

A 50th Celebration Scavenger Hunt game mobile app can be played across all three SeaWorld [fortune stock-symbol=”SEAS”] parks. Guests collect badges as they visit locations throughout the park to earn rewards. Scott Helmstedter, Chief Creative Officer of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, said the company is working on similar games for the Busch Gardens parks to launch within the next year.

“Guests are already interacting with their smartphone throughout the day, so our goal was to focus on a device they are already familiar with and comfortable using,” said Helmstedter.

That comfort level with mobile devices and video games is changing the landscape of interactivity at theme parks today. Previews of what’s in store for tomorrow may just lie in your latest Xbox One, iPad or Samsung Galaxy 5 video game.

A Walt Disney classic gets a video game sequel

A lot has changed since Disney Interactive first approached music game developer Harmonix Music Systems, creators of the original Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, about making an interactive sequel to Walt Disney’s beloved Fantasia film in 2010. Since acquiring Marvel and Lucasfilm, Disney DIS has streamlined its game development to focus almost entirely on its Disney Infinity franchise and Disney Mobile games like the upcoming Big Hero 6: Big Hero Shootout. In the wake of the September launch of Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, Disney Interactive has shipped the Microsoft-exclusive MSFTFantasia: Music Evolved for Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Harmonix has spent the last few years scouring the Walt Disney Animation Research Library (ARL) to bring the classic 1940 film Fantasia to life in a brand new way. During the creative process of the film, Disney hired stenographers to record every meeting as the music and storytelling for the eight animated sequences were constructed.

“One of the phenomenal things about Disney is that they have a staff dedicated to preserving the history of Disney,” said Daniel Sussman, project director at Harmonix for Fantasia: Music Evolved, who said he read Walt Disney’s biography while working on the project. “We also read all of the notes from the stenographers between Walt Disney and Leopold Stokowski; as they discussed things like the role of how abstract art can be and what is the relationship between character and music, and narrative and song. This offered brilliant insight into what they were doing, and we applied what they were trying to do with that film to motion video gaming.”

The Harmonix team studied the Fantasia animation, which is part of over 600 million pieces of art in the ARL. Sussman said this art allowed the team to go deep into the “how’s” and “why’s” of the original Fantasia. One of Walt’s original goal with the film was to help mainstream audiences embrace classic music from celebrated composers like Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Beethoven. With the video game sequel, Harmonix hopes to move that original concept forward by combining original classical music from the film like “The Nutcracker Medley” and “The Four Seasons” along with classic rock like “Message in a Bottle” from the Police and “Rocket Man” from Elton John with modern day hits like Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out Of Heaven” and Kimbra’s “Settle Down.”

Composer Inon Zur composed, conducted and produced many of the original orchestral themes for the game and collaborated closely with Disney Interactive and Harmonix to produce new recordings of classical symphonies by great composers like Mussorgsky and Vivaldi. He also produced and arranged the orchestral version of Queen’s iconic rock opera “Bohemian Rhapsody” for the game. Zur recorded these classical songs with the London Symphony Orchestra and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at Abbey Road.

Harmonix collaborated with the musicians that are featured in the game to give players control of the music. Using Microsoft’s Kinect motion sensor technology, players can explore the game’s 10 interactive worlds like the undersea beauty of The Shoal or the colorful graffiti-filled city The Neighborhood and put their own personal touches on the music featured in the game. Players can literally make music out of the environments, turning vegetables into beat boxes and turtles into drums using magic. All actions are done using hand, arm and body gestures via the Kinect. The game does not support traditional controllers.

There are two ways to transform the game’s 32 songs – remixes and composition spells. Remixes allow players to combine elements from different tracks, so the drum and bass from The Who’s “Real Me” can be combined with an entire orchestral section. Composition spells are unlocked as a player progresses through the game.

“Composition spells are basically solo instruments that the player gets to record their own music on,” said Jonathan Mince, lead designer on the game at Harmonix. “There are five different interfaces for them, but each song has a different musical style on that interface, so we teach you how to use those different controls. In each song you’re going to hear a different soundscape and you’ll be able to customize it and then record a solo, which will loop back into the track at intervals that fit with each particular song. Sometimes the composition spells layer on top of each other in really surprising ways, and then you can save that performance and on Xbox One you can upload it to You Tube where and share it with your friends.”

This opened up a much different licensing agreement than Harmonix had dealt with in past music games, where the object was for the player to match the original song.

“One of the things that was unexpected to me was the degree to which Fantasia, as a piece of cultural media, played a really important role in people’s lives,” said Sussman. “People sat down and watched the movie with their kids. Every artist we talked to about this game has been excited about playing a role. The process was easier than I thought it was going to be, given how much control we give to the player. We targeted musicians who are on the bleeding edge of social media and new technology, and who understood the importance of reaching a new audience in today’s digital age.”

In keeping with the family-friendly theme, two players can go head-to-head as dueling conductors with unique mixes and music styles or work together to unlock composition spells and record solos as a team.

Connecting today’s gamers back to the original 1940 film is magician Yen Sid. Players assume the role of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which Mickey Mouse portrayed in one of the most popular animated shorts from Fantasia. With a female apprentice, Scout, as their in-game guide, players attempt to save Fantasia from the Noise, with the hope of earning the hat that Mickey made famous. Mince said that since there has been a long lineage of Sorcerer’s Apprentices within the game world, and Mickey is the most famous, he’ll make a cameo appearance.

Microsoft is banking on the one-two punch of Disney Interactive and Harmonix, as the hardware maker needs to offer more reasons for gamers to use its Kinect technology on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. After shipping Kinect with every Xbox One at launch, Microsoft took the motion sensor technology out of the box in one version and shaved $100 off the price to compete with Sony’s SNE PlayStation 4. With Christmas around the corner, families will only be able to explore this new critically-acclaimed extension of Fantasia on a Microsoft console. And they’ll need a Kinect to play it.

Euro Disney faces 2nd bail-out in three years as economy sours

Is this another proof of the theory that all you have to do to ruin a perfectly respectable brand, business or concept is just put the prefix “Euro” in front of it?

Euro Disney SCA, the company that runs Disneyland Paris, said Monday it is to get its second bail-out from its parent company in three years, with a €1 billion ($1.25 billion) recapitalization plan to cut its crippling debt burden.

The company is to raise €420 million with a shareholder rights issue, while The Walt Disney Company DIS will convert into equity €600 million in debts owed to it. It will also consolidate three other loans to its Paris-based affiliate into a new, single revolving €350 million credit facility, as a result of which Euro Disney will have until 2023 to pay back loans that were originally due over the next four years.

The writing has been on the wall for Euro Disney for some months, as the Eurozone economy–and the French economy in particular–has slowed to a crawl, buffeted by powerful headwinds out of the Ukraine crisis which has led the E.U. to put sanctions on Russia, one of its biggest trading partners.

“Disneyland Paris is Europe’s number one tourist destination, but the ongoing economic challenges in Europe and our debt burden have significantly decreased operating revenues and liquidity.” said Tom Wolber, president of Euro Disney.

Visitor numbers to the park are expected to fall to between 14.1-14.2 million this year from 14.9 million, while the occupancy rate at its hotels will fall to between 75%-75% from 79.3% last year, according to a statement accompanying Monday’s announcement. In all, the company expects to lose between €110-120 million this year.

Euro Disney was effectively broke as of Sept. 30, with negative equity of €200 million as of Sept. 30. The recapitalization cuts its indebtedness to €1 billion from €1.75 billion.

Euro Disney shares fell some 15% on the news as investors, who will be heavily diluted if they don’t sign up to the capital increase, prepared for the cash call. Disney owns just under 40% of Euro Disney, while the Saudi Prince Alwaleed owns 10%.

Disney postpones Iger’s retirement party, extends CEO through 2018

Disney is riding high, and the entertainment behemoth wants its CEO’s ride to last longer than expected.

The Walt Disney Company’s board said Thursday that it is extending the contract of chairman and CEO Bob Iger through the end of June 2018, which is two years beyond the 2016 retirement date set in a previous contract extension he signed last summer.

The company’s stock price has more than doubled (214%) since Iger took over the CEO role from Michael Eisner, in 2005, while Disney’s DIS market value has more than tripled, to $150 billion. Iger had previously spent five years as Disney’s chief operating officer, a position that has remained vacant since he took the helm of the company. Iger is expected to name a new COO next year in a move that will likely allow him to anoint his own successor.

“I’m very excited about what lies ahead, including the release of our Star Wars films and the launch of Shanghai Disneyland, and I’m honored to continue working with our talented management team and the 175,000 dedicated people who make this company what it is today,” Iger said in a statement.

Under Iger’s watch, Disney has expanded its entertainment offerings with such major acquisitions as Pixar, in 2006, and Marvel Entertainment three years later. In 2012, Iger oversaw Disney’s $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm, which paved the way for a new slate of Star Wars films to be released in coming years. Disney has also recently turned around its iconic animation unit with the global success of last year’s Frozen, which became the highest-grossing animated film ever and spawned a lucrative line of merchandise.

In August, the company reported 22% lift in third quarter profits while the entertainment studio’s revenues jumped 14%. The parks and resorts unit saw a sales bump of 8%.

‘Frozen’ and World Cup help to lift Disney’s results

The numbers: The Walt Disney Company said profits jumped 22% to $2.2 billion in its latest quarter. On a per share basis, it earned $1.28, the highest quarterly EPS in the company’s 91-year history, CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. Sales grew 8% to $12.5 billion. The media and entertainment giant soundly beat Wall Street’s already strong expectations as analysts had predicted EPS of $1.17 and $12.2 billion in revenue from Walt Disney DIS.

The takeaway: Disney’s parks and resorts unit saw a healthy 8% sales bump during its third fiscal quarter with revenue increasing to $3.9 billion despite ticket-price hikes at some of the company’s resorts and bad weather that other companies used as an excuse in their earnings. Revenue for Disney’s cable and broadcasting networks, which include ABC and ESPN, increased 3% to $5.5 billion. The company said the addition of the FIFA World Cup resulted in increased production and programming costs, but the tournament also boosted ESPN’s advertising revenue.

Meanwhile, Disney’s entertainment studio’s revenue grew 14% to $1.8 billion as the company continued to ride the mega success of ‘Frozen,’ which was released in theaters last fall and went on to become the highest-grossing animated film ever. The popularity of ‘Frozen’ merchandise, as well as items tied to the Planes and Spider-Man franchises, also pushed sales of Disney’s consumer products unit up 16% to $902 million.

What’s interesting: As Fortune recently pointed out, the success of ‘Frozen’ merchandise is far from dying out as the animated film’s related toys, games and clothing are likely to be big sellers during the upcoming holiday season, with U.S. sales alone expected to top $1 billion this year. Disney’s studios also appear to have another hit franchise on its hands with the recent box-office success of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which recently set a new August record with its $94 million opening weekend. CEO Iger specifically called out “the spectacular performance” of the film in a statement in the company’s earnings release in which he said the film “holds great promise as a new franchise for our company and once again reinforces the tremendous value of Marvel.”

Still, the very strong quarterly results still weren’t enough to boost Disney’s stock after an all-around rough day for U.S. markets. Shares closed Tuesday down 0.6% and then fell slightly in after-hours trading. But the company is still up almost 14% for the year.

Study: CVS has largest CEO-to-worker pay disparity among top companies

FORTUNE — You would have to combine the wages of more than 400 CVS Caremark employees to match the salary of the company’s CEO, Larry Merlo.

CVS CVS has the greatest disparity between CEO pay and the median wage of its employees among the 100 highest-grossing companies in the U.S., according to a study released Thursday by compensation research company PayScale, Inc. Merlo’s $12.1 million salary is 422 times the size of the median wage for CVS employees: $28,700.

PayScale conducted a survey to find the median pay for workers at the 100 companies and determined the CEO-to-worker pay ratio in each case. Other companies with massive disparities include Goodyear Tire & Rubber GT, which comes in second with a ratio of 323 to 1, thanks to CEO Richard Kramer’s $15 million salary versus the median wage of $46,700 for the company’s workers. Walt Disney DIS CEO Robert Iger makes more than $17 million, which compares with a $60,300 median wage for his company’s employees – making for a ratio of 283 to 1.

“As economic inequality and the inefficiency of capitalism dominate recent news, PayScale’s data highlights the pay gaps between CEOs and typical employees at their company,” Katie Bardaro, lead PayScale economist, said in a statement. “Except for the few CEOs who take home almost no cash compensation, the average CEO-to-worker pay ratio for the 100 companies examined is 86 to 1.”

Because their CEOs take only $1 each in annual compensation, both Google GOOG and Sears SHLD had ratios of 0 to 1. PayScale says employees of retailer Kohl’s have the lowest typical median wage, at $28,500, while Google employees have the highest at $115,900.

The report’s release coincides with a massive movement among the world’s fast-food workers, many of whom went on strike on Thursday in a coordinated effort to earn a wage increase to $15 per hour. The striking workers – who said protests were planned in 150 cities and several countries across the globe – are also seeking the right to form a union.

Meanwhile, the compensation of the executives at restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG was deemed high enough by a healthy majority of the company’s shareholders. More than three-quarters of Chipotle shareholders nixed an executive pay plan that last year gave co-CEOs Steve Ells and Montgomery Moran almost $50 million in combined compensation.

“Jack Dorsey is a talented entrepreneur who has helped create groundbreaking new businesses in the social media and commerce spaces,” said Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement today. Iger explained that Dorsey’s forward-thinking perspective will prove “extremely valuable” given the company’s priorities, which include utilizing the latest technologies and platforms to expand the company’s reach. Dorsey, for his part, called Disney a “timeless company” he was honored to join.

The addition of Dorsey to Disney’s board is an interesting one. His first successful brainchild, Twitter, is trading at nearly $65 a share, up 43% since its successful IPO in November. That company arguably altered the way 230 million-plus active monthly users communicate and consume information via pithy, real-time updates. Meanwhile, Dorsey’s other venture, the credit card-processing Square, continues to rapidly grow, with a reported projection of nearly $1 billion in revenues next year. It is reportedly eying an IPO in 2014, as well.

“He certainly has what it takes to innovate,” says James MacQuivey, vice president and analyst for Forrester Research He explains Disney’s appointment makes sense given Dorsey’s role in two high-profile businesses that are 100-percent digital.

Which could be exactly what Disney needs. Although the company has long since diversified from its humble origins as a short film production company in 1923 and transformed into a $128 billion media and entertainment company with five segments — Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products and Interactive — folks like Iger obviously believe having the inventiveness of tech visionaries like Dorsey should strengthen the company and its bottom line further.

Dorsey is replacing former Cisco CSCO exec Judith Estrin, who is leaving because she reached the 15-year term limit for the Disney board. His appointment also aligns Dorsey with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who was named to the Disney board in December, 2009.

Still, MacQuivey understandably remains cautious on whether Dorsey will effect much change. Says MacQuivey: “It all depends on whether Disney will be open their minds up to his influence.”

After the announcement came out earlier today, Dorsey tweeted a picture of an early Mickey Mouse sketch and a quote from Walt Disney: “I only hope we don’t lose sight of one thing—that it was all started by a mouse.”